THE PINK FAIRY BOOK - Andrew Lang

This book was especially republished to raise funds for these charities & many more...

33% of the publishers profit from the sale of this book will be donated to charities.

A STUNNING READ FOR KIDS from BRITAIN'S ANSWER TO THE GRIMM BROTHERS!

A child who has read the Blue and Red and Yellow Fairy Books will, if he or she examines and compares, find some old friends with new faces in the Pink Fairy Book. But the Japanese tales will probably be new to many; the Tanuki is a creature whose acquaintance few have made before. There are also tales from Sicily, Catalonia, Sweden, Denmark and Africa. Tales of monsters and mermaids, princes and giants, and beautiful princesses, who are, if possible, always prettier than ever.

Here are fancies brought from all quarters: we see that the peoples of the world, no matter their origin, are fond of just the same kinds of adventures. Courage, youth, beauty, kindness, have many trials, but they always win the battle; while witches, giants, unfriendly cruel people, are on the losing hand. So it ought to be, and so, on the whole, it is and will be; and that is all the moral of fairy tales. We cannot all be young, alas! and pretty, and strong; but nothing prevents us from being kind, and no kind man, woman, or beast or bird, ever comes to anything but good in these oldest fables of the world. So far all the tales are true, and no further.

All people in the world tell nursery tales to their children. The Japanese tell them, the Chinese, the American Indians and the Eskimos to pass the long wintry nights. Native South Africans tell them, Greeks, as did the old Egyptians, when Moses had not long been rescued out of the bulrushes. The Germans, French, Spanish, Italians, Danes and Highlanders tell them, and the stories are apt to be like each other everywhere.

So find a comfy chair and sit back and enjoy these tales from yesteryear in the knowledge that the purchase of this book will not only raise some mirth, but also raise funds for the Temi Charitable Trust in the Republic of Georgia.

Excerpt from THE PINK FAIRY BOOK - Andrew Lang

THE SNOW QUEEN

Translated from the German of Hans Andersen by Miss Alma Alleyne.

ONCE UPON A TIME there was once a dreadfully wicked hobgoblin. One day he was in capital spirits because he had made a looking-glass which reflected everything that was good and beautiful in such a way that it dwindled almost to nothing, but anything that was bad and ugly stood out very clearly and looked much worse. The most beautiful landscapes looked like boiled spinach, and the best people looked repulsive or seemed to stand on their heads with no bodies; their faces were so changed that they could not be recognised, and if anyone had a freckle you might be sure it would be spread over the nose and mouth.

That was the best part of it, said the hobgoblin.

But one day the looking-glass was dropped, and it broke into a million-billion and more pieces.

And now came the greatest misfortune of all, for each of the pieces was hardly as large as a grain of sand and they flew about all over the world, and if anyone had a bit in his eye there it stayed, and then he would see everything awry, or else could only see the bad sides of a case. For every tiny splinter of the glass possessed the same power that the whole glass had.

Some people got a splinter in their hearts, and that was dreadful, for then it began to turn into a lump of ice.

The hobgoblin laughed till his sides ached, but still the tiny bits of glass flew about.

And now we will hear all about it.

In a large town, where there were so many people and houses that there was not room enough for everybody to have gardens, lived two poor children. They were not brother and sister, but they loved each other just as much as if they were. Their parents lived opposite one another in two attics, and out on the leads they had put two boxes filled with flowers.

There were sweet peas in it, and two rose trees, which grow beautifully, and in summer the two children were allowed to take their little chairs and sit out under the roses. Then they had splendid games.

In the winter they could not do this, but then they put hot pennies against the frozen window-panes, and made round holes to look at each other through.

His name was Kay, and hers was Gerda.

Outside it was snowing fast.

'Those are the white bees swarming,' said the old grandmother.

'Have they also a queen bee?' asked the little boy, for he knew that the real bees have one.

'To be sure,' said the grandmother. 'She flies wherever they swarm the thickest. She is larger than any of them, and never stays upon the earth, but flies again up into the black clouds. Often at midnight she flies through the streets, and peeps in at all the windows, and then they freeze in such pretty patterns and look like flowers.'

'Yes, we have seen that,' said both children; they knew that it was true.

'Can the Snow-queen come in here?' asked the little girl.

'Just let her!' cried the boy, 'I would put her on the stove, and melt her!'

But the grandmother stroked his hair, and told some more stories.

In the evening, when little Kay was going to bed, he jumped on the chair by the window, and looked through the little hole. A few snow-flakes were falling outside, and one of the, the largest, lay on the edge of one of the window-boxes. The snow-flake grew larger and larger till it took the form of a maiden, dressed in finest white gauze.

She was so beautiful and dainty, but all of ice, hard bright ice.

Still she was alive; her eyes glittered like two clear stars, but there was no rest or peace in them. She nodded at the window, and beckoned with her hand. The little boy was frightened, and sprang down from the chair. It seemed as if a great white bird had flown past the window.

Table of Contents for THE PINK FAIRY BOOK - Andrew Lang

The Cat's Elopement

How the Dragon Was Tricked

The Goblin and the Grocer

The House in the Wood

Uraschimataro and the Turtle

The Slaying of the Tanuki

The Flying Trunk

The Snow-man

The Shirt-collar

The Princess in the Chest

The Three Brothers

The Snow-Queen

The Fir-tree

Hans, the Mermaid's Son

Peter Bull

The Bird 'Grip'

Snowflake a Slavonic story.

I Know What I Have Learned

The Cunning Shoemaker

The King Who Would Have a Beautiful Wife

How the Hermit Helped to Win the King's Daughter

The Water of Life

The Wounded Lion

The Man Without a Heart

The Two Brothers

Master and Pupil

The Golden Lion

The Sprig of Rosemary

The White Dove

The Troll's Daughter

Esben and the Witch

Princess Minon-Minette

Maiden Bright-eye

The Merry Wives

The Jackal, the Dove, and the Panther

The Little Hare

The Sparrow with the Slit Tongue

The Story of Ciccu

Don Giovanni De La Fortuna

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Freya Love"A great bedtime story full of magical creatures and fluffy bunnies."

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